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World Cup Final Has African Flavor, But Challenges Remain

by Salem Solomon

   When the French national team competes in Sunday's World Cup final,
   they'll have a chance to win the championship 20 years after they first
   brought home one of sports' most-coveted trophies.

   But the team has already garnered attention for a different reason:
   About 15 of the 23 players on France's roster trace their roots to
   Africa, making it one of the most diverse squads to ever represent a
   European country.

   Kylian Mbappe, the 19-year-old forward and a breakout star of the
   tournament, has an Algerian mother and a Cameroonian father. Paul
   Pogba, France's most celebrated player, is of Guinean origin. And
   Samuel Umtiti, the defender who scored the lone goal in France's 1-0
   victory over Belgium, was born in Cameroon.

   ''Immigration on stage'

   The team's success comes at a time when immigration has garnered
   significant attention in Europe. Anger over migration from the Middle
   East and Africa has fueled the rise of nationalistic political parties
   across Europe, including France.

   In this climate, some are hoping the World Cup will have a political
   impact.

   "Football allows us to put immigration on stage," Yvan Gastaut, a
   University of Nice historian who curated an exhibit on soccer and
   migration, told the Associated Press. "For people who see immigration
   as a danger, this World Cup story won't resolve that. But it allows us
   to take stock of the reality of the world, of mobility, movements,
   multiple identities."

   But Peter Alegi, a professor of African history at Michigan State
   University, cautions to not expect a sea change.

   Alegi, who has written about African soccer in several books, said
   France's 1998 championship team also was hailed for its multicultural
   makeup. The phrase "black-blanc-beur," meaning "black-white-Arab," was
   widely repeated by fans who celebrated the diversity of the '98 French
   team.

   The cultural impact since that time, however, has been minimal.

   "There was a great kind of almost naive hope that they, too, with their
   mixed team would herald a new France -- a more integrated and tolerant
   and inclusive France. And I don't think, years later, we can look back
   and say that that project worked out all too well," Alegi told VOA.

   Addressing racism

   One area where there has been some improvement in international soccer
   is in stamping out overt racism. The sport's governing body, FIFA, now
   allows referees to stop matches in cases of racial acts, and players
   and fans alike face stiff consequences. This has halted some of the
   worst behavior once rampant in Europe's elite leagues, but it is not a
   cure-all.

   "Racism is a cancer in our society that it needs to be tackled
   holistically. We cannot expect sports to do the work that, for example,
   schools or political institutions or other very important forces must
   do to tackle the issue," Alegi said.

   More subtle racism may still occur in World Cup matches, where some
   feel that African players get called for fouls more often than their
   white counterparts, Alegi added.

   The World Cup has also had a mixed impact on the African continent.
   There is great pride in seeing players of African origin compete on the
   world stage, but many African clubs are struggling, and no African team
   advanced to the Round of 16 in this year's tournament.

   "[Players of African origin] symbolize the capacity to succeed against
   all odds in a foreign country [and] in a tough context like Europe,"
   Alegi said. "But at the same time I know many of my African colleagues
   who study sports in particular and popular culture have pointed out
   that it's also a kind of bittersweet moment because the success of
   these players of African origin in Europe also means that the talent
   has been drained from Africa."

   Salem Solomon is a multimedia digital journalist with the Voice of
   America's Africa Division. She covers [1]the latest news from across
   the continent, and she also reports and edits in [2]Amharic and
   [3]Tigrigna.

   Salem's multimedia and data-driven projects include [4]Unrest: Ethiopia
   at a Crossroads, [5]Zimbabwe in Transition, [6]Hunger Across Africa and
   [7]How Long Have Africa's Presidents Held Office?

   Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post,
   Poynter.org and Reuters. She researches trends in analytics and digital
   journalism. For tips and inquiries, email: salemsolomon@voanews.com.

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/author/25229.html
   2. http://amharic.voanews.com/author/25085.html
   3. http://tigrigna.voanews.com/author/25525.html
   4. https://projects.voanews.com/ethiopia-unrest/
   5. https://projects.voanews.com/zimbabwe-in-transition/
   6. http://projects.voanews.com/africa-drought/home.php
   7. http://projects.voanews.com/african-presidents/